Statements of the Supreme Leader of the Revolution in Meeting Various Segments of the People on the Blessed Eid of Ghadir Khumm

In the Name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

We congratulate the blessed Eid of Ghadir to all believers, to all Muslims across the Islamic world, to all free individuals who are deeply eager and devoted to the qualities and characteristics we recognize in Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him). We especially congratulate this blessed Eid to the entire nation of Iran and to you, esteemed attendees who have gathered in this friendly session, particularly to the dear and faithful people of Kashan, the esteemed scholars, and the seminary of this city.

Dear brothers and sisters! The issue of Ghadir is noteworthy and deserving of attention from several perspectives. One should not think that the Eid of Ghadir is just another holiday like the others. Although there is a symbolic aspect and meaning in all Islamic holidays, it is not to the extent that it exists in the Eid of Ghadir. One aspect of this issue is the direction of Islam and the orientation of the Islamic movement, which is part of our beliefs; this is the aspect of Guardianship, the belief in the Imamate and the appointment of the Imam by the Prophet, meaning in reality by God, the Exalted. This is one aspect of the matter, which if Muslims look at this event with a research-oriented eye, they will all confirm that this great movement of the Prophet in the middle of the pilgrimage, returning from Hajj, in the middle of the desert, in the last year of his life, with those preliminaries and conclusions, mentioning Amir al-Mu'minin, introducing Amir al-Mu'minin by saying, "Whoever I am his master, Ali is his master," has no meaning other than determining the line of governance and guardianship in Islam after the passing of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). Its meaning is only this. Scholars of the Islamic world throughout history have felt and understood this meaning from this event and this phrase of the Prophet. It becomes clear that from the perspective of Islam, the issue of governance is not merely that a power comes to the head of the Islamic community and has the capability to manage the government and the lives of people with order and discipline; the issue is not only this from the Islamic perspective, but governance in the Islamic view has the meaning of Imamate. Imamate means leadership of both body and soul; both. It is not just sovereignty over bodies, not merely managing the worldly and everyday lives of people; it is the management of hearts, the enhancement of souls and spirits, the elevation of thoughts and spiritualities. This is the meaning of Imamate. Islam desires this. Other religions have been similar. Now, there is no reliable document remaining from other religions in the hands of humanity, but Islam has a clear document. The movement of Islam, the emergence of Islam for managing human life, has a fundamentally different essence and meaning from all other movements. It seeks to manage both this world and the hereafter, to take on the true perfection and elevation of humanity alongside managing the everyday lives of people. This is the same meaning of Imamate. The Prophet himself was also an Imam in this sense, as in the narration of Imam Baqir (peace be upon him) in Mina, amidst the crowd, the Prophet raised his voice and said: "Indeed, the Messenger of God (peace be upon him) was the Imam"; the Prophet was the Imam. Imam means the sovereignty of religion and the world in the lives of people. Well, this is one aspect of the matter, which is the doctrinal aspect, and the Shia, with this brilliant torch, with this clear logic, has been able to prove its legitimacy to all hearts that were seekers and just, throughout centuries.

The fact that the Shia has been able to endure and grow amidst all the obstacles and pressures that have existed throughout history is due to reliance on this strong and clear logic. If this strong logic did not exist, the Shia would have been obliterated and disappeared. This logic is very solid. Another aspect of the matter is the attention to the spiritual value of the personality that the Prophet appointed and designated in this event; that is, Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him). For the selection of such a position, if all the factors that contribute to the perfection of a human being are to be calculated, a normal human being certainly cannot grasp all of them. This requires a divine and superhuman calculation. With such a calculation, the noble Prophet of Islam deemed Amir al-Mu'minin suitable for this position and this rank. Well, Islam will have governance forever; various types of people with qualifications at different levels will come to power. This was predictable from the very beginning of Islam. The one who must be entrusted with the source so that throughout the history of Islam, this source can quench the thirst is someone who must be at the level of Amir al-Mu'minin Ali ibn Abi Talib (peace be upon him); he cannot be an ordinary human being. The source is in his hands; thus, all our Imams (peace be upon them) who themselves also held this position - although they were not given the opportunity to govern - all looked at Amir al-Mu'minin with great respect. The Imams (peace be upon them) all saw Ali ibn Abi Talib as a sun in the sky of Imamate, while the rest of the Imams were like stars in that sky. Amir al-Mu'minin was superior to them, just as regarding Imam Hasan and Imam Husayn (peace be upon them) with the ranks they hold, the Prophet says: "And their father is better than them"; their father is superior to Imam Hasan and Imam Husayn, more virtuous. This is the rank of Amir al-Mu'minin. Therefore, all the qualities of perfection that we attribute to God's chosen ones must exist in Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him) for the Prophet to appoint him to this rank by the command of the Lord. This is the second aspect, which is the view of the virtue of Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him). Another aspect that is very important for us today and exists in Ghadir is that we all must know that the Islamic government and the Islamic community must take the personality of Amir al-Mu'minin and the society that Amir al-Mu'minin wanted to establish as a model. This is our model; we must move towards that direction. This does not mean that throughout history, among the greats and scholars and prominent personalities, there may be those who are like Amir al-Mu'minin or one degree lower than Amir al-Mu'minin; no, this is not the case; our greats, our scholars, our prominent figures are lower than Qanbar, the servant of Amir al-Mu'minin, they do not even reach the dust of Amir al-Mu'minin's feet. It is not that we want to compare someone or can compare someone with that exalted personality; this is not the case, but we must carry out our work with attention to that model. When the model is written, the example is given to the learner to practice; this does not mean that this learner will necessarily be able to produce the same line or the same painting or the same model at the end; no, it says you must move towards this direction; your goal must be this; your ambition must be this. Today, our Islamic community must have the same ambition that Amir al-Mu'minin sought to achieve on that day and what he accomplished in the opportunity he had for governance. You should look and see what the characteristics of Amir al-Mu'minin and the system he sought to establish are. We must consider those characteristics and move towards them. The characteristic of justice, the characteristic of ethics, monotheism, doing work for God, having a kind and compassionate view towards all members of society - all individuals in society - is essential. Amir al-Mu'minin tells his agent that: people are either your religious brothers or your fellow human beings. See how broad this view is. All of humanity; the compassionate view of the human - the human that Amir al-Mu'minin wants to create - towards all of humanity is this; a compassionate view. Then, a serious and decisive view towards sin, misconduct, and betrayal. Amir al-Mu'minin did not tolerate misconduct, betrayal, or deviation from the path of God even from his closest companions. That compassion has its place, and that decisive and rule-based view has its place. This is the view of Amir al-Mu'minin. These are the models. We may be able to move towards this goal and this model by two degrees, three degrees, or even ten degrees, but we must move in this direction; our standard must be this. This is the meaning of Ghadir. The reason we keep Ghadir alive is not only because of its doctrinal aspect; or its merits concerning the sacred existence of Amir al-Mu'minin. This aspect is also very important. We must not forget that our society is a society of Ali. Our aspiration is to be at the level of the society that Amir al-Mu'minin wanted to establish. Therefore, we must adhere to these criteria. Another aspect is that we must pay attention to the fact that Amir al-Mu'minin, with this position, with this clarity of the meaning of Imamate that he is appointed by the Prophet and divinely appointed, when he observed and saw that the Islamic community was vulnerable and that if he were to pursue this right and demand it, Islam might be endangered, he withdrew. This is also an important issue. Not only did he withdraw - meaning he did not raise the claim so that there would not be division and discord among Muslims - but he also cooperated with those whom Amir al-Mu'minin deemed unworthy of the position - who governed the Islamic community - because he saw that Islam needed this today; self-sacrifice. This is another lesson for us. This is also the lesson of Ghadir, the lesson of Ali. Today, our logic in the Islamic world is the strongest logic. There should be no doubt about this. The logic of the Shia, the logic of Imamate and Guardianship has been like this throughout all periods of history, and today it is the same. It is the strongest of logics; however, at the same time, while we have complete confidence in our logic, our method, and our character - today the flag of Islam is in the hands of the Iranian nation - we invite all brothers of the Islamic world, regardless of their sect, to unity and brotherhood; we do not want to create discord. We do not want to prove ourselves by negating others. This is a very important point. This is the same Islamic cohesion that we mentioned at the beginning of this year. It is precisely at this point that the enemies want to enter and weaken the Islamic world even further than it is. For years, they have exploited the weakness of the Islamic world, the weakness of Islamic governments, and have done whatever they pleased in the Islamic world, in the Islamic region. Now that the Islamic nations have awakened and in part of the Islamic Ummah, namely this section of Islamic Iran, such glory and greatness has emerged from the power and presence of the people, and other nations are becoming more and more aware day by day, today global arrogance - meaning the same eternal enemies - again want to inject this virus of discord with complete treachery and wickedness into the body of Islamic sections; they want to intensify the differences. This must be confronted. This is also the lesson of Ghadir, this is also the lesson of Amir al-Mu'minin. Some came to Amir al-Mu'minin at that time saying, "O Ali, the truth is with you; we will do this and that, we will support you, do not yield to them." Amir al-Mu'minin rejected them. If he wanted to defend his right and rise up, he did not need anyone; but he saw that the Islamic community could not bear this discord and conflict; therefore, he withdrew. This is a lesson for us. Today, we must not revive differences; we must not highlight them. We must not insult the sacred beliefs of each other - which is the sensitive point of each sect is its sacred beliefs. Pointing fingers at each other's sensitive points and applying pressure is clearly provocative; this leads to discord in the Islamic world; this discord must not exist. This is our message. This year at Hajj, we also conveyed this message to the esteemed pilgrims; we said that the well-wishers of the Islamic world all say that sensitive points of the sects should not be highlighted and create sensitivities; create enmity. Today, there is a great enemy that is neither Sunni nor Shia, nor has any inclination towards any of the Islamic sects; but it approaches a Sunni in one way and a Shia in another way; to incite discord and conflict between them. We must be vigilant against that enemy.

Thanks be to God, the Iranian nation, throughout these twenty-seven or eight years that God Almighty has granted this success, has managed to raise the flag of Islam in this land in such a way that in every one of the plans of global arrogance, they have faced defeat against the Iranian nation. If we were to list the types of movements and motivations and actions of global arrogance against the Islamic Republic in these twenty-seven or eight years, in all of them without exception, it has been the arrogant and boastful front that has been defeated. We have not made any claims, but we, the Muslim people, by the blessing of our faith, by the blessing of our reliance, by the blessing of our presence in the arena, by the blessing of our desire to fulfill our responsibilities, we, the Iranian nation, have overcome all of this noisy apparatus of global arrogance in all of these matters. They have tried in various ways to create discord, but they have not been able to. And we must remain vigilant. The way to continue these successes, my dear ones! Is that we do not forget the enemy. The enemy must not be forgotten. In all matters, we must be aware that there is an enemy that may take advantage of our negligence and strike us. This is the method that the Quran teaches us. You see how many times the name of Satan is repeated throughout the Quran. Well, once they would say there is a Satan, and that was it; this is because in the arena of life - which is the arena of challenges and struggles; life is entirely challenges and struggles - one must not forget that there is an enemy and that the enemy may strike. The way is this: we must not forget the enemy; we must not forget God Almighty, who is our supporter; we must not forget the sense of responsibility to be present in the arena. This is the very effective and important factor.

Now, shortly, the elections are ahead for the Iranian nation. I have recommendations regarding the elections, God willing, and I will convey them to the Iranian nation. This is one of those important arenas. Here, the Iranian nation must exercise vigilance, knowing that this is one of those tests, one of those arenas of effectiveness, one of those twists where the enemy may take advantage of our negligence and strike us. Of course, God Almighty has been the supporter of you, the dear, brave, self-sacrificing, and loyal nation, and after this, we hope that God Almighty, God willing, will support the dear Iranian nation in all stages. May God, God willing, make this Eid blessed for all the Iranian nation and make the Eid of the Iranian nation a step closer to the lofty Islamic ideals. Peace be upon you and God's mercy and blessings.